Photo: Doug Cox Marty Stone said crankbaiters should head to rivers and the backs of creeks right now and look for stained water.

Week 39 ・Marty Stone
With The Writers 9/27/2005

Since his Bassmaster Tour victory at the Harris Chain in 2004, Marty Stone has hardly had a week to himself to unwind and relax. This past week was no different. He, along with Gerald Swindle, Kelly Jordon, Skeet Reese, Takahiro Omori and Mike Auten, attended the Lucky Craft writers conference at Lake Guntersville.

Although his schedule was kept full with photo shoots and interviews, he said he felt honored and blessed to have the ability to spend time with the media and provide an insight into what Lucky Craft has to offer for the new season.

Tired Out

With a full schedule of media relations planned, Stone had no downtime at the recent Lucky Craft writers conference.

"I'll tell you what, that was the hardest I've ever worked at a writers conference," he said. "I had writers assigned to me a couple of times each day. I caught fish and demonstrated how the Lucky Craft baits worked both on and off the water.

"Off the water, we had access to a pool where I could actually demonstrate what the baits were doing in the water. It's so cool to be able to see exactly how the baits work with certain retrieves."

While he worked hard each day, there was plenty of time to enjoy the conference.

"Don't get me wrong, this was all work," he said. "But everything was awesome. The motel where we stayed was right next to the marina and we had catered meals. When we'd come in at lunch, our meal was catered. At the end of the day, the meal was catered."

New Editions

Stone has a new crankbait he can't wait to put through the tour paces.

"There are several new crankbaits in the Lucky Craft lineup," he said. "Of course, the word is out about the BDS 1 and 2, but the one I'm really excited about is the Flat CB Mini. These will come in about 1/8- and 3/8- ounce models and they'll dive from 2 to 6 feet deep.

"One in particular I know may be a workhorse next season is the Flat CB Mini DR," he added. "This bait will be great around the riprap. It casts like a rock and truly fills a niche in the Lucky Craft lineup that needed to be filled."

Fall Crankin'

Stone says with fall comes great crankbait action. The backs of creeks and rivers will be prime spots to whack fish.

"Right now with the weather cooling off, I'd look for fish in stained water," he said. "In particular, I'd fish the backs of creeks and up rivers. This is one of the best times of the year to use crankbaits.

"One of the lures I'd start with is the CB-001," he said. "It hardly dives 10 inches, but it's a great lure to cast at visible targets. It's not the only lure I'd use, but it's one to start with.

"As the water gets cooler I'd continually use larger crankbaits," he added. "In general, I stick with chartreuse since I'm in stained to dark water. If visibility is over 18 inches or so, the water is too clear. You want to fish that water where the clear and stained mix."

Notable

> Stone needs familiarity. "I'm heading to Kentucky Lake for a few days followed by Grand Lake and then Table Rock," he said. "I want to get a few days on these bodies of water now to get familiar with them again for next season."